Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-06-10

member of the company, among whom
there was one who had been induced To
personatc the scientific expert. For Hank
ness, who like most men of his stamp, had
small faith i'm scientists, had concluded
that no such one might readily steal the
secret (which he was now convinced was
wen worth stealingl, and he had, for this
reason, made for the nonce, n professor
uf chemistry out Of one Of his clerks
named Sawyer. Watchmeister immedi-
ntcly engaged this gentleman i'm CONVERSE
ton and measured in an instant, the eX-
tent OF MS scientific requirements.
The little Introductory speech which he
made have not the space TO ;epeat; but
il was very clever.
"Now, gentlemen" he said in con-
clusion, al must commit myself TO your
honor. beg Of you 10 examine carefully
the contents of this box. You see that il
contains some black sand-a very com
mon article, which is found in abundance
round about i'm the state, Here hold in
my hand n small bottle Of sulphate Of iron.
But, pardon me- | came near
forgetting ! merely wish To convince
you that my process is above board
without suspicion of fraud. You will not
require OF me that | shall explain it to
you.
He thcrcupon stepped behind n screen
and Invested himself Of all his Clothes
which he handed out 10 the company, beg
ging them 10 make sure that they con.
tanned no particle Of the noble metal One
10y one his garments were returned 10 him;
then the furnace, the box and the bottles,
each after having been subjected TO a rigid
examination. II was obvious that every
thing was fair and square. There was an
almost solemn silence In the room while
the alchemist labored behind the screen.
EvVy insignilCans little sound was lis
tened 10 with excited interest. The crack
ling Of flames was heard, and the steady
blowing Of the little bellows then at last
little cautious hammer blows and before
thirty minutes had elapsed Wachtmeister
stepped forward holding n large bar OF
yellow gold i'm his hand \ chorus Of eX-
cited oaths and EXPLANATIONS greeted the
gean Of the precious metal. darkness
seized il eagerly, scratched it with his
nail, cut il with his knife, and, having
satisfied himself that it was genuine,
passed il around until all had had "a chance
10 examine IL. The bar was then sent 10
the as-aycr, with the request that he re
turn his analysis at the earliest possible
moment \ banquet had been condition
ally arranged for the party in the evening"
and as soon as the assay was found TO be
sa,i .iactory uhc bar bcSng valued at
$l1oN, Mr.. Hardness and his guests re-
paired 10 n fashionable hotel, where the
great event was appropriately celebrated.
The whole future Of humanity was revolu-
t!ouzed and all social problems solved by
this discovery. The conversation and the
toast- turned chiefly upon the necessity
of limiting the production, so as not 10
,tu1
world.
For three weeks Wach;mcister now Ia
bored steadily in a dngy little laboratory
which he had improyised in an empty
back room in the Hardness block He
delivered TO the millionaire from time 10
time small bars OF gold which the assay
proved 10 be genuine; but he complained
greatly at being obliged 10 work under
such disadvantages with imperfect light,
and no facilities for extended production
He dincd almost daily with Hardness,
who, as he came to know him, was more
and more dazzled by his brilliant talk,
scientific requirements, and ineXhaustible
fund Of anecdotes
You Zee ON the look ont, doctor, " he
said 10 him enc evening as they sat sip
ping ,hcir Churtrcuse and smoking high
favored Havauas; IF You see anything
thatll suit You for a laboratory, you just
let me know and III plank down the
cash
The Tcuton betrayed no emotion at this
proposal; but about n week later when
there was tremendous excitement on
change az the revelation Of a corner in
IIarkucs~'s favorite stock, he rushed
brcathc~~ly into the latter's office with a
copy of The Alta in his hand.
a 49,.
very thing we want: For sale-The
property of G.. L. Perkins Esq, at Oak
land I've just been out there, and Sol
onion Saylcs has got the refusal Of IL nj
ti2. 600. They are about 10 close the
bargain Now, If we can offer So 0C
cash it's ours II is dirt cheap, but Per
kins has got squeezed on change and
can't raise money in any other way for
margins. He has got 10 have the cash by
. O clock. Now, if youll run out there
with me-
Il run out thcrc-are You cracked,
man. roarcd the millionaire. Don't
You know that there's something very
much like panic on change
why no. ! hadn't heard Of il. Well,
then. send ont some agent Of yours with
your check for SO 600 or the right 10 draw
on You for that amount
The deuce | haint got no time TO
bother -
lie scratched his head nngrily then
drew a check for the required amount and
handed il to Wachtmeistcr. you run
ont and settle the thing yourself he
said. IL know the property. 1t is worth
the money. know. too. that Perkins is
in tight place You'd better hurry.
But couldn't you send Lawson along
with mc.'
"You just clear out. Do you suppose
can spare Lawson on n day like thisY'
AN right. You'll hear from me to-
morrow. -
Wachtmeistcr folded the check, put It
into nj, pocketbook and rushed out ms
breathlcssly as ne had como. II was the
last time Mr. Hardness had the pleasure
OF gazing upon his countcnancc. He
learned 10y chance the next day that the
Oakland property had not been sold and
that no bid had been made for it by his
Tcutonie protcge. But man Of $50 900,
coo consoles himself easily.
~ smart chap" he said 60 himself.
holding approvingly; ION the whole it
was not bad investment. The mere
pxnorinncp was worth SD. COO with the